By Heather McDonald

School districts across Portage County are meeting state scholarly expectations, according to Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction (DPI), with Stevens Point schools scoring the highest.

DPI recently released its district report cards, showing that Stevens Point Area Public School District schools overall scored 74.7 out of 100, or “exceeds expectations” while surrounding districts are making between 65.9 and 72.9 marks, which fall in the “meets expectations” area. The state’s overall scores are in the 60s for three priorities and 86.5 in the fourth.

None of the school districts in Portage County fell below the “meets expectations” scoring.

“We are pleased to see that all our schools did well on this year’s school report cards,” Craig Gerlach, Stevens Point Area Public School District superintendent, said. “Twelve of our 13 schools increased their overall scores from the previous year.

“We are proud of the commitment to our schools by parents, and we are particularly proud of our staff and students for their commitment to excellence,” he said.

The district report cards, first issued in 2012, should not be used to compare districts in different areas, according to DPI, rather they are intended to create a more standardized methodology for parents and community members to determine the effectiveness of their local schools.

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